Improvement in machines for threading wood-screws



J. M. WHITING. MACHINE FOR THRBADING Woon SGREWS.

No. 35,406. y P fitentgd May 27,1862.

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`PATENT: ,'OE'EICE.

JAMES M. WHITING, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR THREADING WOO'D-SCR-EWS.

Specifica-tion forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,406, dated May 27, 1362.

To all whom it may concern: I

Beit known that I, J AMES M. WRITING, of Providence, in the county of Providence and Stateof Rhode lsland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Threading Wood-Screws, and I dohereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan ofmy improved machine.

, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an end elevation. Fig. 4 is an end eleva-- tion and section by line Z Z of Fig. 1 and 2.

Figs. 5, 6, and7 are details which are referred to inthe course of the description.

Similar letters refer to like parts in all the gureS.

The natnre of my invention consists, first, in the employment of a face-plate having aseries of studs xed in its face at equal distances from each other and fro,m its center for the purpose of carrying the tool or cutter from the head toward the point of the screw-blank to make the repeated cuts in forming thethread;

second, in making the several studs of the series yalternately larger and smaller in diameter with respect to each other, in the order in which they are placed, so lthat the cutter will be alternately advanced and delayed, and thereby made to cut first upon one side of the thread and then upon the other; third, in the u employmentof a series of adjustable cams projecting from the periphery of a rotating disk equal in number to the studs upon the faceplate, and acting, through the medium of a sliding former, to press the point of the tool or cutter against the blank to be threaded simul taneously with the action of the studs in car-` rying the tool forward to make the successive cuts in forming the thread; fourth, in the employment of a vertically-sliding carrier,which is made -to ascend in the midst of a quantity of blanks'contained'in a dish or hopper whose bottom has a central inclination by repeated strokes or motions, and in so doing to lift one or morebl'anks from the mass and deposit the same between the prongs of a fork suspended by the head, from which they descend by an inclined railway to a horizontal position near the mouth of the nippers, to which they are fed by any well-known means.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use myinvention, I will proceed to describe the construction and operation of the same by means ofthe accompanying drawings, in which- Y A A is the frame or bed of the machine. .B is a stand which forms one of two bearpers are constructed, as shown, to grip and re-l volve the screw blank while it is being threaded, and to this end they are operated by any well-known and effective mechanism which will open and close the samD while revolving.

`The tool or cutter d is formed .as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and Iirmlyheld in the tool-post D cap e and a V-'groove formed in the tool-post to receive it. This tool-post D is formed, as shown, with a sleeve, S, through which passes the round guide-'rod E, on which it slides, and projecting arm f, extending downward and provided with a dog, n', of hardened steel, the purpose of which will presently appear.

h h t' t', dre., fixed in the face thereof, which in face-plate revolves, `which imparts a sliding movement to the tool-post D-,in the direction indicated by the arrow, sufficiently rapid to produce the required number of threads t-o the inch upon the blank, which is revolved at a proportionate rate of speed tothe distance moved by the tooLpost in sliding upon the guide-rod.

rIhe tool is returned preparatory tomaking a succeeding cut, when released from the the guide-rod, which bears against the step r, sliding in a slot formed lengthwise in the under side of the guide-rod, which is attached to the sleeve by the screw, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4.

The guide-rod E turns in the stand B andal and has an arm, j, fixed upon it, the loose end being acted upon by the spiral spring g, as seen in Fig. 7, which swings the point of the tool away from the blank in the nippers, also the dog n from'contact with the studs h and 12, as shown in Fig. 4, and thus permits the tool to return after each cut is made, and also removes the tool from its proximity to the nippers while a threaded blank is being discharged therefrom and afresh one inserted.

The tool is forced up to the blank succes ings in'which the nippers revolve. These nipy means of the set-screw b betweenthe l Fis the face-plate havinga number of studs,

turn come in contact with the dog'n as the studs, by means of the spiral spring g within sively to make the required number oi' cuts by means of the 'series of earns t t, &c., attached by screws t il, as shown, to the rotating disk G, Figs. 1 and 3. These earnr are adjustedto give the required depth to the successive cuts volved. Beneath said disk is placed aslidingv piece, J, inwhich is secured the former It, against which the projecting top of the too1- post Dbea-rs, as shown in Figs. l and 3. This former is formed with a cylindrical body at K, terminating -in a rounded shoulder,and an enlargement at k', the latter portion serving to press the tool in at the point of the blank to form the gimlet-point. A pin, 2, passes through the projections on the sliding piece J and through the former k, which is made fast thereto by a screw, as shown. Said pin is prevented from turning orsliding by the setscrew 3, and, being thus arranged, i f the former becomes worn after a time the screw 3 may be slackened, and by turning the former a new surface will be presented for the toolpost to act against.

In the sliding piece J is a fixed stud or post, 4, having a flat surface upon one side, as

shown in Fig.Y l. Y The cams, in their turn reA volving with the disk in the direction indicated by the arrows, come in contact with the post 4, and in passing the same slide the sliding piece and former toward the blank, and by that means force the tool up to the blank at the proper time to cut the th'read thereon.

It will be seen that there is the same number of cams upon the disk G as there are studs upon the face-plate F, and that one cam and one stud act simultaneously in their respective capacity in making each cut, aud therefore of necessity they are moved together and act in combination. l

It will be seen that the same movement of the cams t t which carries the tool against the blank to make a cut also carries the dog u toward the face-plate to effect a connection with one of the series of studs h t' which reciprocates the tool, as'seen in Fig. 3, and that the same movement of the cam which permits the withdrawal of the tool .from the blank after each eut is made also permits the disconnection or unhooking of the dog n' with the stud and permits the tool to return, preparatory to making another cut, as seen in Fig. 4, which, as a peculiar mode of operation, formsone feature of improvement in my machine.

It will also be seen that a space is left unoccupied upon the cam-disk between the first and last cam at 5, which, while passing the post 4, permits the tool to remain at rest and outl of the way of the nippers while the threaded blank is being dropped therefrom and a fresh blank inserted.

It should be noticed that the several studs are alternately larger (It h, &e.) and smaller (i t', ttc.) in diameter, and from being thus varied fiom one medium diameter in each the former It h advances' the tool slightly and cuts upon one side of the thread only, and in the next 'succeeding movement produced by the latter t' the tool is delayed and cuts upon the other side of the thread, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and t-he tool being made to cut deeper at each successive cut by the greater projec 'tion of the succeeding cams from the disk the thread upon the blank is finally cuttoa sharp edge.

rlhe blanks Z are conveyed from the hopper M to the inclined railway T by means of the carrier N, sliding vertically in the standard of the hopper by motion transmitted from the revolving pitman K, whereby the carrier is made to slide upward three or more times during the threading of one blank. The bottom ofthe hopperinclines from the margin toward the center, which has the effect to keep the blanks placed therein around the carrier, in the top of which is formeda groove which selects a blank from the surrounding mass, as in ascending it passes through them. Above the carrier are two prongs, s s, each united to the railway T in a hinge-joint, as shown, and connected by the bow-spring x, which serves to return them to their proper position when by any means they become separated.

The several parts ofthe machine being con The bevel-gears O and V, which drive the cam-disk G and face-plate F, and a third pair of gears which revolve the nippers and the several devices operate as follows: Thecarrier N at repeated ascending strokes lifts a blank, l, from the mass, forces it upward between the prongs S, which separate sufficiently to permit the head of the blank to pass when the carrier descends, leaving the blank suspended by its head between the prongs preparatory to raising another blank. From the prongs the blank slides down the railway tov the nippers, where, by means of a punch actuated by a spring or any simple and effective device, the blank is presented to the nippers, which are made to seize it by the head while revolving. The first cam t' of the series in revolving next comes in contact with the post 4 of thesliding lpiece J, and in so doing presses the tool d up to the revolving blank, 'and the dog n of the arm f to one of the studs h of the face-plate, whereby the tool. is carried along the body of the blank and in at the point being governed by the shape of the former k, by which operation the rst cut is made, when, by reason of the end of the cam t passing the flattened side of the post 4, the former retreats with the tool-post, removing the tool from the blank, and frees thedog n from the carrying-stud h', as seen in Fig. 4, whereby the vforce of the spring g, which has been compressed, the toolond cut, which follows in like manner to that just described by the action of the second cam ofthe series, and the next in the order of the Studs t', which, being made smaller indiameter than the rst,h, it retards the tool, so that instead of cutting in the same path with. the preceding -one it cuts only upon one side of the first path or cut, as seen in Figs. 5 and 6, which operation being repeated by the remaining cams and studs cutting-first upon one side of the thread and then nponthe other, as shown by Figs. 5 and 6, each succeeding `cam pressing the tool deeper into the blankiuntil the requisite number. of cuts have been made to form a sharp thread upon the blank, after which itis dropped from the nippers, and aother being supplied theretofrom the railway the operation is continued, as before.'

`It has been specified above that during the threading of one blank the carrier N makes three or more ascending strokes. To explain the reason forwhich, it should be stated that in the event of the failure of one movement of the carrier to deposita blank upon the prongs the two succeeding strokes are most certain to deposit a blank therein to replace that which is fed from' the railway to the nippers.

Having thus described the construction and post is returned preparatory to making a sec-A operation of my improved machine, What'I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isj 1V. The face-plate F, and the series of studs h h i i, in'combination with the dog n, or its equivalent, upon Vthe tool-post, arranged and operating substantially as described, for the .g and g, for the purpose of effecting a connec tion and a disconnection at the proper time between the threading-tool holder and the device which reciprocates the same, substantially as described.

4. The sliding carrier N, arranged with the hopper M, in combination with the hinged prongs S S upon the'lrailway, and operating substantially as described, for' the purpose specied.

J AMES M. WH ITING. 

